Aquaponics anyone?

I keep hearing good things about growing veggies with aquaponics. Anyone here have experience, or know someone that does? I'm working on a little hydroponics set up, but it's not the same.

 

A friend of mine here in Valencia has a small system set up, although I'm not so sure it is full blown "aquaponics" (I'm not sure he recycles the water). I'm sure he would be glad to talk to you and show you his system if/when he is in town.

Larry

 

Very good topic cos I'm interested too...been researching about it for a couple of weeks. How big is your experimented aquaponics...can u attach some pics?

Hydroponics and aquaponics are not the same. Hydroponics is when you put plants nutrients in your water tank and aquaponics is when you use fish to give nitrogen to your plants and your plants filtered the water back to your fish.

 

Its fish doo-doo!

 

My experimental system is not aquaponics. It's hydroponics. Consists of about two dozen large buckets. I'm using three different types of grow media: pea gravel in six, burnt rice husks in six, a mixture of soil and burnt rice husks in a dozen. The burnt rice husks hold so much moisture that I only have to water the plants every other day and it's easiest just to do it by hand. I have a nutrient reservoir, bubble stone, timer, pump, delivery tubes and a drain system which I will use for the pea gravel buckets only, I think. I started tomato plants in my garden and transferred them to the buckets about a week ago. They seem to like the new environment.

 

I am looking at setting up a hydroponic unit, using the foam boxes that imported grapes come in , if I can find any. I am wondering where you are getting your nutrients from, I have seen on the innternet a system developed in the Philippines called SNAP, I think you can get their nutrients in Manila.
I had a system going back in the late 70's in Bais, I had nutrient I brought from Australia and used steralised river gravel, worked quite well.
Re-aquaponics,was invovled in a set up in Port Moresby PNG, many years ago, but this included the production of methane from pig poo, the overflow from the digestor went into a fish pond, then the overflow was run through pvc pipes into a garden lot, worked pretty well, suppose you could cut out the methane part and just go from fish pond to garden, by the way the fish we raised where tilapia, also had ducks in the pond encloser. cheers TD

 

I was not at all impressed with SNAP's stuff, nor their attitude. I asked them some pointed question (why did their veggies look so weak?) and they never replied. I ended up buying good quality (Scotts) nutrients from Allied Botanical. Their web site doesn't show the stuff I bought (Peter's Hydrosol), but they have it. It is especially formulated for hydroponics. See them at:
http://www.alliedbotanical.com/pages/homepage.htm They respond quickly and are helpful.

 

Thanks for the info, will give Peter,s Hydrosol a try once I get up and running Cheers TD

 

Great info! Thanks! :D

 

Where can I buy pumps for a 1000gal fish tank? Is it available in the city? Thanks in advance.